FLOCKHILL is a unique environment which transcends lifetimes. It is this natural world of 36000 acres that grows natures super fibre. Wool is a remarkable technical natural fibre. It is created by nature to protect sheep against the extremes of their environment. From freezing winters to scorching summers. Accordingly it can provide the same comfort for humans.

Flock Hill Station shares ZQ values. We are a part of a brand and supply chain that care about the way wool is produced. We care about our animals, the land and the people behind it. ZQ Merino is the world’s leading ethical wool. Ethical, Sustainable, Traceable. It is a wool certification standard. Producing the world’s leading ethical wool doesn’t come easy, but as ZQ growers we believe in farming sustainably for generations to come. ZQ sheep graze on pastures in ‘free range’ extensive farming conditions in the high country. The sheep producing the wool are humanely treated, well fed, living natural and healthy lives. Healthy sheep naturally produce the best quality fibre.

The ZQ programme ensures healthy animals by adhering to 5 basic freedoms. Growers supplying ZQ wool are required to provide and care for their livestock in accordance with these freedoms:

• Free from thirst
  
• Free to live naturally
  
• Free from discomfort
  
• Free from disease
  
• Free from distress

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

This includes standards around human rights, health and safety, and wellbeing.

ANIMAL WELFARE AND HEALTH

The largest section of the manual includes standards on sheep handling, chemical use, health and disease management, and adhering to the five freedoms. 

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CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

As growers we create a land environment plan, which outlines how our individual property will be managed, risks assessed, to mitigate negative impact. This includes water quality and various biodiversity projects.

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PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

This includes templates for record keeping and useful links 

It’s not a story, it’s a way of life. 

We care for New Zealand’s protected and native species through a humane and evidence-based pest management plan.

To protect FLOCKHILL’s biodiversity and encourage the spread of protected native species, a pest management plan has been implemented. This plan includes the humane trapping or eradication of predators that pose the biggest threats to our valuable flora and fauna, i.e. possums, stoats, rats, wasps and wilding pines.

If left to spread, Wilding Pines can quickly take over farmland and the high country. Growing above the native tree line, they compete with native plants for sunlight and water. Their seeds can be blown many kilometers by wind, quickly infesting an area and posing a major threat to new Zealand’s ecosystems, lands and farms.  FLOCKHILL has been eradicating Wilding Pine since 2015, when groups of volunteers worked tirelessly to pull out and chop down the invasive species. Government funding followed, and the leaseholders of the farm invested in eradication.